MLS executives say they want their league to be one of the world’s best by 2022. LA Galaxy forward Robbie Keane, who starred in the world’s best league for more than a decade, says MLS is on the right track. The pieces are in place. All that’s needed now is a bit more money.

“There are a lot of players in England that I speak to now, youngish kind of players, that want to come over here and play over here,” Keane told reporters last week during an MLS media event at Red Bull Arena. “There are certainly a lot of players who look at this league now with certainly a different opinion than they did a few years ago.

Robbie Keane, here celebrating with Landon Donovan, has enjoyed much success as a member of the Galaxy. (AP Photo)

“When I went back (last month) and trained with Tottenham for a couple of weeks, the lads asked questions and stuff like that. That just goes to show you how the league has grown.”

MLS has its appealing aspects. The lifestyle in the U.S. and Canada—“It’s not a bad place to live is it, Hollywood?” Keane asked rhetorically—the reduced pressure from both the public and the press, the improving facilities and the gradually improving wages have been noticed abroad.

Keane said another plus for the league is the top-to-bottom competitiveness that is rare in most major, top-heavy European circuits.

“Everyone is kind of on the even playing field. It’s not like Man United and Southampton, with no disrespect, that kind of distance,” he said. “If you noticed, you never win (in MLS) by a lot of goals. It’s fairly always tight, usually tight games. For me, that’s been a challenge in itself because you have to be performing every week. The teams around you could beat you on any day.”

Speaking later exclusively to Sporting News, Keane said he was a bit frustrated by those back in the U.K. or his native Ireland who claim that playing in MLS is akin to taking the easy way out.

“Some people are quite ignorant, you know? It’s like, when people ask me about the league and stuff like that, you have to come here first to realize how hard it is to play here. Everyone is on the same level,” he said.

Keane, who turned out for five EPL clubs and is most famous for his exploits with Tottenham, said those who play for the entrenched powers could mark a "W" next to half the games on their schedule before the season even begins.

“It’s easy going to play with Man United and you’re playing with the best players in the world,” he said.

The next step for MLS, Keane argued, was to increase the quality of play while maintaining that competitive balance. Each MLS team currently has three Designated Player slots, which carry a significant salary budget hit but which allow clubs to pay anything they like above and beyond that initial charge.

Keane told Sporting News that it’s time to raise the number of DPs to five per team. They don’t have to necessarily be foreign players, he added, pointing out that Galaxy teammates like Omar Gonzalez or Mike Magee could “easily” be DPs.

“You look at Tottenham. I was training with them a few weeks ago. You look at the players and the people who were on the bench, it was strong. Really strong,” he said. “It’s hard (to score goals in MLS) at the moment because it’s on a level kind of playing field, if you like. But in England you’ve got 20 designated players (per team). ... You could sit here all day and speak all day about (MLS), but it is what it is. But if we move on and keep talking about and extending it to maybe five players, I think we’ll 100 percent help the league and it will help the U.S. national team.

“In 10 years’ time, this league would be massive if you extend it to five players. If you don’t extend it to five players, it’s going to be the same.”

That “same” isn’t so bad, he argued. It’s just not world class. At least not yet.

“If you look at Seattle, Colorado, Portland, you look at the fans there every week, they’re there two hours before the game,” Keane said. “The league is set now to keep going. We’re at a level where it’s going to stay like that. Whether David (Beckham) set that thing, he’s gone now but I think it’s going to continue.

“I don’t think it’s going to change. We’re going to still get full houses at the Galaxy. I think we still will.”